Born in Blood Collection Volume 1 - Cora Reilly Page 0,106

long breath as Luca kept my orgasm going for what seemed like forever with feathery touches. I watched him get up through a haze that had nothing to do with painkillers. He slipped out of his boxers as I lay like a boneless heap on the bed. My body was humming as if every cell had been infused with sweet pleasure. He stretched above me, his tip at my entrance. Then he slid into me ever so slowly, stretching me. I let out a long moan when he filled me completely.

“Mine,” he said quietly.

I stared into his eyes as he withdrew inch by inch until only his tip was in me before sliding back in. “Yours,” I whispered.

The path stretching before us was one of darkness, a life of blood and death and danger, a future of always watching my back, of knowing every day could be Luca’s last, of fearing that one day I might have to watch him receive a lethal injection. But this was my world and Luca was my man, and I would go this path with him until the bitter end.

As he made love to me, I touched my hand to the tattoo over his heart, felt his heart beating against my palm. I smiled. “Mine.”

“Always,” Luca said.

BOUND BY DUTY

(Born in Blood Mafia Chronicles, #2)

PROLOGUE

“Don’t turn your back on me. Look at me. I think I deserve at least that small decency, Dante.”

Tension radiated off of him when he turned to face me. He didn’t move closer, but he was looking at me. For once, he didn’t pretend I was invisible. His blue eyes wandered over my exposed body.

My nipples hardened in the cool air of his office but I didn’t close my silk bathrobe, despite the overwhelming urge to cover myself against Dante’s cold scrutiny. His gaze lingered on the apex of my thighs slightly longer than the rest of my body, and a small burst of hope filled me. “Am I your wife?”

His blond brows drew together. “Of course you are.” There was the hint of something I couldn’t place in his voice.

“Then claim your rights, Dante. Make me yours.”

He didn’t move, but his eyes slid down to my erect nipples. His gaze was almost physical, like a ghost touch on my naked skin.

I wasn’t above begging. I knew I almost had him. I wanted to have sex tonight. “I have needs too. Would you prefer if I found a lover who relieved you of the burden to touch me?” I wasn’t sure I could go through with it. No, I knew I couldn’t go through with it, but this act of provocation was my last option. If Dante didn’t react to this, then I didn’t know what else to do.

“No,” he said sharply, something angry and possessive breaking through his perfect mask. He pressed his lips together, jaw locked, and walked toward me. I shivered with need and excitement when he stopped in front of me. He didn’t reach for me, but I thought I detected the hint of desire in his eyes. It wasn’t much, but enough to embolden me. I bridged the remaining distance between us and curled my fingers over his strong shoulders, pressing my naked body against his front. The rough material of his business suit rubbed deliciously against my sensitive nipples, and I let out a small moan. The pressure between my legs was almost unbearable. Dante’s eyes flashed as he looked down at me. Slowly he wrapped an arm around me and rested his palm flat against my lower back.

Triumph flooded me. He wasn’t ignoring me now.

CHAPTER ONE

Of course, I’d known it would happen. My father had made his standpoint clear the moment my first husband Antonio had been buried. I was too young to stay unmarried. But I hadn’t expected my father to find a new husband for me so quickly, and I definitely hadn’t expected my new husband to be Dante—the Boss—Cavallaro.

Antonio’s funeral had taken place only nine months ago, which made my new engagement teeter on the brink of inappropriateness. My mother was usually among the first to pounce on anyone who committed a social faux pas, and yet she couldn’t see anything wrong with the fact that today, less than a year after saying good-bye to Antonio, I was going to meet my next husband. I’d never loved Antonio as a woman loved a man, even if I’d believed I had at one time, and our marriage had never been real, but